


Like A Dream

by Luminovia



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: ALSO almost forgot holy shit, Aged-Up Character(s), Blood and Gore, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Probably no smut. It's not my thing., also dark!dipper, also one more thing he's like 18 i think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-02 19:30:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4071916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminovia/pseuds/Luminovia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper had been going through a lot of shit in his life. Consequential of a bully's actions, he went through a near-death experience. Ever since that day, he had been noticing weird, paranormal things; he started to hear voices and felt drawn towards the woods. Who was this voice and what did it want from him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Consciousness

**Author's Note:**

> This is a new work separate from my other stuff. Once this fic is done, I'll be moving onto a Seeking Vengeance sequel!

Seven-fifteen in the morning and his clock rang louder than a prison alarm. Dipper's eyes shot open as he stirred suddenly. His face was turned away from the clock and he quickly reached a hand up to smash down onto the snooze button, missing it a few times at first. Groaning, he flipped over onto his back and pulled his hands up to his face to cover it.

He was seriously not feeling up to going to school. At all.

His eyes darted around his pitch-black room. He had tacked up blankets across the windows so that he would be able to sleep better, seeing as even the moonlight kept him up at night. The navy blue of his walls would have matched his pale azure carpets perfectly, if the floor was even visible under all his clothes piles and other junk.

His walls were littered with posters of all different things. Bands he liked, movies he enjoyed, even some Youtubers he watched.

He tugged away at the black comforter that had been covering him, shielding him from the cold morning draft and the sunlight that was barely poking through holes in the wall-blankets. Getting out of his bed, he grumpily walked over to his bathroom door, opening it and flipping on the light switch, unready for the sudden amount of light that flooded his eyes. He took a minute to adjust.

Inspecting himself in the mirror, he threw off his shirt and was left standing in his boxers. He looked over at his left arm, still riddled with scars- though most of them were white and barely visible anymore, he always wore long-sleeved shirts because he was so self-conscious about it. On his upper arm were two more slits, new from the night before. When had he let himself get so bothered by what others think? Or had that always been the case?

Regardless, he sighed deeply and threw off his under garments, heading into the shower to turn it on. As he waited for the water to heat up, he grabbed his toothbrush and began to brush his teeth.

Taking one last glance at his arm plagued with scars, he looked down dejectedly. It would be another long-sleeved shirt day for him.

* * *

  
Dipper choose to skip breakfast that morning and did not regret so as he walked towards the school building, his stomach already curling at the sight of it. He held a mysterious journal in his hands, the same one he had found all those years ago in the strange and sleepy town of Gravity Falls.

Home was different. Everything was normal and the only "adventures" he had was the ones where he would get his head dunked in the toilet at school. If he was lucky, he would have avoided getting punched in the eye- but those were on good days. And today was certainly not one of them.

He walked steadily towards the double doors of the school and became surprised and alarmed at the sudden arm that has slung around his shoulder.

"Hey there, bro-bro!" Mabel grinned.

Dipper was relieved to see that it was her and not... anyone else. He shot her a quick smile as they walked into the building together. Out of the whole high school, Mabel was his best and only friend. He could count on her no matter what. She was the only person who would actually sit and listen to Dipper's crazy ramblings and his conspiracy theories, probably because of the anomalies of Gravity Falls that they alone knew of.

Still, it was good to have someone on his side.

"Hey, sis," Dipper greeted cheerfully, "Glad you caught up with me."

"Yeah, well, I didn't skip breakfast, dummy!" She piped, poking at his face a few times.

Dipper shrugged, "Wasn't hungry enough. School is sickening."

"Yeah," she agreed, "Hey, if anyone tries messing with you today, I'm gonna fuck 'em up!"

Dipper laughed at her remark, scratching the back of his head. Of the two, Dipper had the more colorful vocabulary- something he was very much rebuked for at home- so it was sort of weird to hear Mabel curse sometimes, though she purposefully avoided it when they were in front of their parents. Dipper picked up the ever-swearing habit from his Grunkle Stan and he didn't care enough to stop cursing.

"Honestly, Mabel, I don't know where you get your energy from."

"When Mom was pregnant with us, I totally stole away all of it," she said, patting him on the shoulder, "That's why _I_ am the alpha twin!"

"Yeah, in your fucking dreams," Dipper replied amusingly.

Mabel shook her head and hurried on over to her first class, waving at her brother before disappearing around the corner.

Dipper flipped quickly through the different pages of the journal, caressing the book with admiration before leaving it in his locker. It was safe to say the book had become an important part of him over the years. On their vacations to Oregon, he would often write down everything strange he saw, and it was almost like his own world.

He hurried off to his first class after hearing the bell ring. He pulled his ebony beanie down a little more to make himself less recognizable before going anywhere else.

The first part of the day passed rather smoothly, but everything changed at lunch time. Dipper had just finished his second class for the day and was on his way back to his locker to grab some cash for his lunch. He took out his journal for a second to admire the first few pages, all sketches of monsters and their weaknesses and such. Just before he was going to put it back, he felt a hand grab him by the collar and pull him back, throwing him down on the floor.

Glancing up alarmingly, Dipper was stunned to see two boys standing over him, one leaning against the wall of lockers, the other one reaching for the money in his own locker and slamming it shut, pocketing the generous ten bucks.

The older-looking boy was Dipper's bully. His name was Mike Norris. His friend, Donnie Hardwick, would hang around with him all the time, but never really did anything other than taunt their victims.

Mike shot an evil glare at Dipper, reaching down and grabbing him by the shirt. Dipper felt terrified in his grasp. He could only assume the look of anger in the boy's eyes, which was quite different from his usual mischievous smirk, could mean that he was having a really shitty day. If that was the case, it meant a lot of trouble for Dipper.

"Hey there, Dipshit Pines," Mike said, gesturing to Donnie to grab Dipper's journal, "Let's have some fun today, huh?"

He threw Dipper back to the ground, his foot stomping on the boy's face and pinning him to the ground. In a moment or two, he removed his foot, looking down at Dipper, who wiped the blood from his nose and groaned in pain. Reaching down once more, the bully grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him to his feet, pushing him forward roughly to get him to move.

Soon they were off of school property and making their way to a small lake not far from the building. Dipper was too afraid to ask what was happening. He shivered in the brisk, autumn breeze, wishing that he had the time to grab his jacket before the bullies had walked him out.

They had gotten to the lake, Donnie still in possession of Dipper's journal. Mike threw Dipper onto the ground, roughing him up a little. Sitting down on the boy's stomach, his weight pinning him to the ground, he held up a fist and began to strike at Dipper. Once, twice, and a third time; each hit harder than the last. Blood trickled down the boy's face, his lip split and his eye swollen shut. Once Mike let his frustration out, he got off of Dipper and signaled to Donnie to toss the journal into the lake.

"No, no! Please, anything but that," Dipper pleaded, seeing Donnie wind his arm back, "I fucking swear, I'll pay you whatever, I won't ever fight back; please, don't throw it!"

Mike's deadly glare turned into a quick smirk. He shook his head, chuckling softly to himself.

"Toss it, Don."

Dipper watched as the book went soaring into the air, it's pages flapping in the wind. He got up screaming out curses as he ran towards the water, only to be stopped by Mike's arm.

"Whoa there, Dipshit. You got a death wish?"

Dipper turned toward the bully with a frightening, enraged gleam in his eyes. He quickly shoved the boy away and ran out into the waters, diving in after his journal. Mike and Donnie watched, surprised at Dipper's devotion to the book as he plunged into the freezing water after it. They didn't expect him to actually sacrifice his life for the book.

Dipper was enveloped by a polar, glacial coldness. The water cradled him in an icy embrace as he swam deeper into the darkness of the lake. He saw in the distance the silhouette of a book sinking gently. Kicking his feet quickly, he felt the air in his lungs compress and fill with fluid. He felt his toes and fingers go numb as he grasped for the book. He held it in his hands now and tried kicking up towards the surface.

Suddenly, a sleepy feeling overcame him and he felt his consciousness slipping away. Everything became cold and dark, and life seemed distant as he felt the imminence of death.


	2. Beautiful Cavern

"Where the hell am I...?"

  
Dipper was standing in a field of grass stretching as far as the eye can see. The sky was white and there was nothing else there but him and the soft verdant ground. He looked around in bewilderment, expecting to see something else. It all felt like a dream.

  
Suddenly, the sky's milky white tone changed to a golden color as daffodils and yellow tulips popped up all around him. The air was very light and his mind felt distant.

  
"Wake up," a voice spoke softly.

  
Dipper turned every way to search for the source, but he felt as if he was surrounded by the whisper.

  
"Who are you?" he asked the disembodied voice.

  
"Wake up!"

  
Dipper felt the ground disappear beneath him. Everything melted away to black and it seemed to him that he was being swallowed up by something. Once again, he heard the voice.

  
"WAKE UP!"

  
Dipper's eyes shot open. The room was dark, but he could tell he was in a hospital by the sound of the quiet beeping coming from a monitor at his bedside. The only light in the room was from a dim lamp in the corner.

  
He tried to get up, grabbing hold of the IV stand as he stumbled towards the window. He gently pushed the curtain out of the way, peering out into the night. The parking lot below had a few lamp posts. A bluish glow emitted from the entrance of the building and he could see cars pass by every few minutes as the gas station sign across the street flickered. Pine trees surrounded most of the land.

  
"I wonder who woke me up," Dipper said to himself, "Did they want to help?"

  
He had many questions, but he nor anyone he knew had any answers. The strangest thing about it all was his sudden longing- no, perhaps lust was a better word- to go out into the woods. He had a feeling something was waiting for him, and he only assumed it would be linked to the voice in his dreams.

  
His parents and Mabel visited him over the past week or two, doing what they could to stay at his side. Mabel spent the most time there, and even cut class to sneak into the room and visit him. She told him about what they had been told happened. They were told that Mike, Dipper, and Donnie all went out onto a boat in the lake, when Dipper lost his journal and dove in to get it.

  
Dipper dismissed the story and told her the truth. He was being bullied and they had thrown his journal into the water. Did his near-death experience truly mean nothing to the other students? Even if they were bullies, would they have lied if he did die?

  
Dipper's recovery lasted nearly a month. Once he returned, the kids of the school spoke very little about him. He seemed lifeless nowadays unless someone had brought up something about the forest; so many of them avoided him, thinking him weird.

* * *

 

One day, in late Fall, Dipper hurried to school early; but he didn't go to school. Instead, he took a different way and went deep into the heart of the woods. Surrounded by pine trees, dead leaves, and red dirt, Dipper shivered through his jacket. He had two or three layers on, but ever since the incident, he was very susceptible to the cold.

He wanted to find out what was out there.

  
He ran down the dirt paths, clouds of dust being pulled up from under his shoes as he rushed on, down into the darkened area of the forest. If he could describe it, he would have said it was like being underwater; very far beneath the surface where sunlight was barely visible. Everything around him seemed to change quite suddenly, and he felt as if he was no longer at home, but in some magical part of nature; a place that felt similar to Gravity Falls.

  
He held his journal in his hand. The pages were wrinkled and water-damaged, and some of the sketches were smudged, but Dipper was able to preserve most of it.

  
He caught an abrupt glimpse of a small, narrow cave. This definitely wasn't the woods from home- he would have remembered seeing this if he really had explored all of the forest. He ducked into the cave, breathless from the run. If the cold air was infecting his lungs, he didn't care. He found something new and exciting; something he had never seen before, and it screamed adventure. He needed to inspect it.

  
He groped around in the dark cavern. It may have been narrow, but it went on for a while. He proceeded with caution, but had miscalculated how far down one of the steps was and tumbled down the steep route, which turned into something like a slide. He held his book close as he rode the cave the rest of the way down.

  
It emptied out into a rather large subterrane. A fairly small cottage was in the middle of the cave, surrounded by a moat-like river that was glowing a bright cerulean, lighting up a pattern on the roof of the cavern. Towards the top of the walls were holes, and pouring out of those holes were waterfalls that were the source of the river of light.

  
Dipper took a few steps towards the cabin, confused and amazed at the gorgeous scene that his eyes beheld.

  
He felt a light tap on his shoulder and whirled around, yelping in fear. He came face to face with a man not much older than him, but certainly taller by a lot. Dipper was easily intimidated by anyone taller than him, but this man seemed... friendly. Almost as if he was too perky.

  
His hair was short and auburn at the roots, but faded into a casual rosy color at the tips; his skin was clear and a deep tan. His eyes, large and brown, flickered a brighter color, an almost golden tone, in the light of the cave. He smiled a wide, toothy grin, his canines looking sharper than they usually would on people. As for his clothes, he wore a button-up shirt; it was black with thin golden stripes running down it. The daffodil-colored suspenders made him look as if he were back in the 1940s, getting ready for some big ballroom dance. Despite his snazzy old-fashioned attire, he had a charm that made it seem more modern than it should have.

  
"How'd you end up down here, buddy?" the man asked.

  
"Oh, I- well, uh, there was... uh," he stuttered, thrown off by the man's attractive appearance, "Th-there was a cave, and I just followed it here..."

  
The man hummed happily, stretching his suspenders away from his chest with his thumbs.

  
"I see! So it is you, huh?"

  
Dipper's expression became blank and confused, "Wait, what? What about me?"

  
"You almost died nearly a month ago, kid. I helped you out of that shithole and woke you up. I saved your life!"

  
Dipper darted glances between the man's two eyes, looking into both of them to check if he was lying- but if he was, how would he have known...?

  
"You were calling me here? And don't call me kid. You can't be that much older than me."

  
Smiling that wide grin, the man ruffled Dipper's hair. "I call most people kid, kid. And yes, that was indeed me who brought you here."

  
"Alright, but why?"

  
He started circling around Dipper, inspecting him at every angle. "Pine Tree, you fascinate me. Between you yourself and that journal you have, it's a pretty weird thing," he held out his hand, graciously inviting Dipper to shake it, "Name's Bill! Bill Cipher. You're quite an interesting boy, Dipper Pines!"

  
"How the hell do you know my name?"

  
Bill held up a finger in front of his face, a tiny blue flame floating above it gently. "Oh, I know lots of things."

  
Dipper yelped in surprise once again at the sight of the fire, jumping back slightly.

  
"Aw, don't be like that, kid," Bill said, pulling his finger back into his fist as the flame extinguished, "We're gonna have a lot of fun learning about each other. Come on in!"

  
Bill walked off cheerfully, hopping from stone to stone until they reached the cabin door. He pushed it open gently and flipped on a switch, and part of the glowing blue river started running through pipes in the ceiling and on the wall, lighting up the place in a cool cobalt brilliance. It was like a wonderland.

  
The living room consisted of a two-seater couch as well as a comfortable recliner in the corner. Across the way was the dining room, which was a simple-looking, circular table with four or five chairs surrounding it.

  
Between the two rooms were a pair of short stairs, leading into the kitchen on the right and a pair of bar stools reaching up to a counter that separated it from the kitchen. Down the hall Dipper could see three doors; one he presumed to be a closet, one a bathroom, another a bedroom.

  
"Welcome to my abode," Bill chuckled, "Feel free to look around in the fridge!"

  
Dipper shook his head and held up his hands, "Ah, no, I couldn't-"

  
Bill interrupted him by slinging an arm around his neck in a casual, friendly manner. "Relax, Pine Tree! I'm not gonna kill you. Why would I do that if I just saved your life?"

  
Dipper let his tense stance droop a little and that made him more calm. Bill invited him to take a seat on a bar stool as he opened up the fridge and pulled out two cans of vanilla coke.

  
"I swear, humans love this stuff! They would probably bathe in it, if they could and it didn't burn all of their orifices."

  
"Humans?" Dipper's ears perked up, "Does that mean... But aren't you a human?"

  
Bill laughed at the question. "No, no! I'm a dream demon. Could a human seriously have done such a thing as bring you out of a state of death?"

  
Dipper held up a finger and opened his mouth to protest, but found the case to be useless. "True," he answered, taking a small sip of his soda.

  
"Tell me more about what happened. What did you see and how did you almost die?"

  
"Don't you know everything?"

  
"Lots of things, kid. Never said I was a god."

  
Dipper shrugged, "Fair enough. I was being bullied by these two, Mike and Donnie. Guess they were having a pretty shitty day or something, so they threw my journal into the lake; which, by the way, was cold as fuck."

  
Bill nodded and smiled slyly. "And you dove in after it. Gotta say, kid, that takes guts."

  
"No, it takes having an empty head. I didn't hesitate. That book means a lot to me."

  
"Right, right," Bill agreed, "And what did you see? Do you remember anything after?"

  
"I remember... Everything going dark, suddenly. It felt cold and numb. Then I remember being surrounded by grass, and everything was white; I heard a voice and everything became golden. Yellow flowers popped up everywhere and someone was yelling at me to wake up. Everything went dark again and I felt like I was being swallowed up by something. I woke up at night, having apparently been in a coma for three whole days."

  
Bill listened intently to Dipper's story. He grinned slightly when Dipper finished talking.

  
"That's enough, kid," Bill said, "Actually, would you come over here for a minute?"

  
Bill gestured over to his couch and instructed Dipper to lay down. He held both hands over the boy's body, allowing them to hover over him as he closed his eyes with a concentrated look on his face.

  
"What are you doing now??"

  
Bill peeked an eye out at him, smiling slightly. "It's time for you to go home, kid."

  
A strange light started to glow in Bill's palms as he chanted, "Somno, deliciae. Somno, deliciae. Vigilia se tui domum."

  
Before he knew it, Dipper had blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those words in Latin mean "Sleep, dear. Sleep, dear. Awake in your home." It's pretty sweet for a spell. Guarantees safety and all that jazz. It should be correct, I think; I dunno, I've forgotten my Latin conjugations. :/
> 
> Also, some concept art for Bill's house: http://billdipparadise.tumblr.com/post/120789109316/luminovia-art-sketchy-primitive-idea-for-a


	3. Fever Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I'll be able to update on the 9th because it's gonna be my birthday, but I'll try; just a little warning. ALSO! Emetophobia warning, there's a bit of that. It doesn't describe it much, but hey, I know how people are with that sort of thing.

Dipper was only out for a second before he woke up back at the edge of the forest. Shivering intensely, he pulled a black beanie from his backpack, throwing it over his head and covering his ears. If he returned home now, maybe he could convince his mom that it was too cold for him and he felt sick or something.

  
He started back down the road, his head still fuzzy. He remembered meeting the man and the amazing scenery he saw, but he felt like he was forgetting something. He crossed his arms, rubbing his upper arms quickly to generate heat as he snuggled deeper into his scarf.

  
In no time he was back on his front porch, knocking at his door. His mother opened the door, her brunette hair tied up in a messy bun as she stood there, getting ready for work.

  
"Dipper? What's wrong, sweetie?"

  
Dipper shook his head. "I was on my way to school and it was super cold. I started coughing a lot and felt feverish," he told her. He wasn't exactly lying, because he did feel like he was getting a cold in this weather.

  
"Aw, come inside. I'll take your temperature," his mother said, ushering him into the house and instructing him to take off his shoes.

  
Dipper felt very tired as they made their way to the bathroom and his mom grabbed a thermometer and a bottle of medicine labeled "Motrin". She told him to put the thermometer under his armpit as she grabbed a small cup and poured out the liquid medicine into it, measuring it closely. When she had finished that, the thermometer beeped and Dipper looked at it. It read 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

  
"Jeez, that's pretty high," his mom exclaimed, "You're definitely staying home."

  
Dipper cheered a little bit internally, but remained tired-looking and sick on the outside.

  
"Should I stay home from work or will you be okay on your own?"

  
Dipper nodded. "I'll be fine. Just sleeping all day, I think. Mabel can bring home any work if she needs to."

  
"Alright. Off to bed, mister," she commanded him, patting him on the head twice, "I have to make a call to the school now and then I'll be off to work."

  
Dipper slowly made his way out of the bathroom, pulling off his scarf and beanie but leaving his jacket on. He walked up the steps leading to his bedroom, closing the door behind him before plopping down on the bed. He closed his eyes for a few minutes until a sudden knocking at his door woke him up. His mom popped her head in.

  
"Kiddo, if you're still feeling bad in a few hours, remember to take some Motrin. Gotta go now, bye!"

  
Dipper groaned in acknowledgement before she left. Turning on his side, he faced the wall. He reached up over his bed to flip out a switch which was connected to the white Christmas lights all around his room that served as his usual source of light. The room went dark and Dipper fell into a deep, feverish slumber.

* * *

 

In his dream, Dipper was in a car, riding down a road he recognized. He usually went this way when his parents were dropping him and Mabel off at the airport to head to Gravity Falls during the summer, which was the situation in the dream, as well. They drove on, the sun shining down in the car, brightening the mood as they listened to his dad's favorite radio station that consisted of old music from bands like Journey and Kansas, even a little bit of Pink Floyd. The green trees and vibrant scenery passed by him and he watched and his family laughed and sang along to the songs.

  
Suddenly, it seemed as if a dark cloud had overtaken the sky and the sun was blotted out. Alarmed, Dipper looked around. Down the road on the opposite side, he could see a car going very fast, drifting off on the wrong side of the road. Dipper's parents and his sister began to scream. His dad hit the breaks and turned the wheel, skidding the car to its side as it collided with the out of control car.

  
Everything stilled and went black suddenly. Dipper opened his eyes to find himself a few feet out of the car, staring at a wreckage.

  
He was covered with cuts and bruises, and the lucidity of the dream made it feel real. He crawled over to the car. His parents were inside, not dead, but merely unconscious. He opened the back door to look for Mabel but was distraught at the sight he found.

  
She was there. A sharp, bloody metal piece sticking through her stomach, her eyes left wide open as Dipper could tell her last moments were in fear.

  
Dipper felt the urge to throw up, both from the gruesome sight and his sudden loss. He was reduced to nothing more than a crying mess.

  
He felt a hand touch his forehead and opened his eyes to see a golden triangle with an eye staring at him.

  
"Wake up," a familiar voice commanded.

  
Dipper's eyes shot open and he was back in his bedroom, his blankets covered with sweat as he panted heavily. He let out a deep breath and pulled his legs up to his chest, sobbing softly out of relief that it was only a dream. This was interrupted by a sudden feeling of something climbing up his throat. He ran to the bathroom and promptly vomited up whatever was in his stomach, which was not much.

  
He breathed heavily as he flushed the toilet, standing back up to rinse his mouth. He brought his index finger and his thumb to the bridge of his nose, pinching it slightly as he closed his eyes in thought.

  
He walked out of the small restroom and over to a T.V. on his wall. Perhaps playing some video games would distract him. He settled with Super Smash Brothers 4, putting the disc into the Wii U and waiting for it to load up. He decided between Lucina and Samus for a while, but decided to stick with Lucina. He played with Link as his go-to for a while, but tried other characters and seemed to like how quickly Lucina moved and how strong she was.

  
He played against people on the online mode, but still found himself worried about his dream. Every time he closed his eyes he saw that brutal image of his sister and it killed him on the inside.

  
The match finished with him in fourth, so he just turned off the console and sighed deeply, leaning back against the bed as his head rested on the covers. He felt a chill crawl up his spine as he began to feel feverish again. He looked at the clock. It read about two or three hours later than when his mom left, so he got up to go get some more Motrin before lying down and trying to sleep again.

  
This time, luckily, he had a blank dream, as he called it- the dreams that you don't have was what he was referring to.

  
By the time he was awake, his sister was hovering over him.

  
"Mabel..? You're..."

  
Mabel snapped her fingers. "That's right, sleepy sick Dip-Dop! I'm home, and I bring homework of classes past," she said, trying to make herself sound like a ghost on the last sentence.

  
"No, no, it's just," Dipper sighed as he remembered the dream. The image once again flashed in his mind. Why was it so prominent? He shook his head, disregarding it. He reached over to give her a hug and said, "I had a dream where you died in it."

  
"Aww, bro-bro! Don't worry, I wouldn't dare leave my own twin brother behind!" She ruffled his hair in reassurance, "Let's play some Smash!"

  
Dipper nodded, throwing off his blankets and pulling over two ground-level chairs and setting up the game. He threw Mabel a controller and they went onto four person Smash mode, throwing in two level nine computers and playing on teams.

  
"I'm gonna fucking destroy you," Mabel whispered.

  
"In your dreams, asshole," Dipper replied.

  
They shot each other a caring smile before pressing start.


	4. All Dreams Have Meaning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, well, this got out a bit later than expected. Very very sorry about that. Had enough time today between birthday stuff to finish it, though! I am sleepy as fuck!

Dipper sat in his bed, a harsh and hollow cough passing through his lungs every minute or so. His head felt dangerously hot and his nose was completely stuffed, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. His ears felt sensitive to any noise and he was ready to just give up, since his illness kept him from being able to sleep a wink.

  
Eventually, he was bored from just sitting at his place under the sheets and taking occasional sips from a cold water bottle beside him. He dragged himself out of bed and to his window, moving the blanket out of the way as he peered through his blinds into the woods.

  
He missed Bill. He longed to return to that beautiful cabin in the cave! How could he do that in this state?

  
His desire to see Bill again overcame his weariness. He searched around in the medicine cabinet for some Ibuprofen, fishing it out and sticking two pills in his mouth. He should be clear by now to take them. The last medicine he took was over an hour or two ago. He placed the medicine bottle in his pocket and threw on some warmer clothes, adjusting his beanie until it was nice and snug over his head. Wrapping a scarf around his heated face, he sneaked out of the house- though it was empty- and into the woods once more.

  
A biting wind met what part of his face wasn't covered and made him feel refreshed for a second before the frost nipped at his nose, which started to run, much to his displeasure.

  
He headed down narrow paths leading deeper into the forest, treading up tawny flattened leaves and pebbles in his wake. He shivered slightly as another powerful gust threw his scarf off. It flew through the air, gracefully slithering through the trees. Dipper took off from his spot, avoiding the obstacles of nature as he chased it down.

  
At last, the white scarf tangled itself in a mess of branches, bringing itself to a halt as Dipper wheezed, out of breath and coughing up a storm. He grabbed at it and wrapped it tightly around his sick face once again.

  
He walked forward a bit, inspecting the place he had ended up in. The clouds above sang an ominous tune. He glanced around at the grove of trees. He seemed to be in a small, empty patch where only grass and dead leaves were, but was surrounded by pine trees in every direction.

  
"Kid?" a soft voice spoke from behind Dipper.

  
Dipper turned around, surprised to see the same man he had seen just the day before. A gloved hand rested on the bark of one of the trees as Bill stood there, looking over the boy's face as if to make sure it was him.

  
"W-What are you doing here?" Dipper asked.

  
Bill scoffed, "I should ask the same, Pine Tree. Aren't you sick?"

  
Dipper nodded, his face growing redder than it was from his sickness. "The woods make me feel like... Like I have a sense of longing. Like an itch I have to scratch. I-It must have something to do with you, yeah?"

  
Bill leaned his shoulder against the tree, amused as he watched Dipper stutter.

  
"I figured, well, going out in the cold isn't that bad, right? If I'll only be out for a few minutes to look for you..." Dipper jumped when he realized how awkward and sort of creepy that sounded. He held up both hands in defense, waving them around in a panic. "But, I mean! Not like that, you know? I guess I just still have some questions, or-"

  
"Pine Tree, relax!" Bill said, drawing out the last word. He took a few steps towards Dipper and slung an arm around his shoulder. "No need to get all worked up, kid. It's just me." He pointed up towards the sky and said, "I'd love to bring you back with me, but we're about to miss something that I happen to like."

  
At that exact moment, a small white flake floated down gently. Dipper caught sight of it and watched as it fell slowly to the earth, like a fairy descending gracefully onto the surface of a pond. He had seen enough of the paranormal to know what that looked like.

  
"The first snowfall of the season...!"

  
"Right you are, kid! It's my favorite thing about Autumn," Bill said.

  
More snowflakes fell from the sky, and soon they started coming down more rapidly as the flakes themselves grew bigger and bigger. They watched for a few minutes in awe as the tiny ice crystals fell from the clouds, slamming down on the ground furiously. 

  
"Alright, enough dawdling. Let's take a walk, kid."

  
Dipper nodded and Bill took his arm from around Dipper's neck, locking it into his arm instead. The snow collided with the ground and a thin blanket soon covered the ground around them. As they walked into the forest, Dipper started to get that same feeling that the woods around him was changing and that they were going somewhere else, somewhere far away.

  
It grew slightly warmer and the snow fell lightly once more as Bill directed him towards the cave. They slid down the rocky slope into the cavern, which was shining brilliantly. They entered the house and Bill took a seat on a bar stool, patting down the one next to him as if to invite him over.

  
Dipper took a seat and Bill took off both of their coats, hanging them on the hanger behind him.

  
"Now, what was it you wanted to see me about, kid?"

  
Dipper eyed the man curiously. "I wanna know what you really are."

  
Bill leaned his chin on the palm of his hand, his elbow propped up on the counter. He stared at Dipper intently for a few seconds before saying anything. "What I really am, hm?"  
"You're not human."

  
"Correct," Bill replied, "I am what you people would call a 'dream demon'."

  
"But why would a demon look like a human?" Dipper asked, ending with a few husky coughs.

  
Bill glanced at him slyly. "Good question, Pine Tree! You're awfully perceptive. I guess I sort of wondered what it would be like. I've always wanted to borrow someone for this purpose."

  
"Borrow? Does that mean the body... isn't yours?"

  
Bill laughed at the question. "You're absolutely right! It wasn't mine. It is now, but it certainly wasn't before."

  
Dipper's eyes widened in realization. "You stole someone's body! Wouldn't that mean you killed them?"

  
"You ask far too many questions, kid," Bill said, "Not exactly. This soul is still bound to the body, that much is true, but the person this guy was before doesn't exist anymore. His intelligence, will, everything- it's all gone. Now all that's left is a zombie-like soul and me controlling it."

  
Dipper looked down as Bill explained all this. When he said it like that, it didn't seem very humane- but he was a demon. Dipper wouldn't expect him to be humane.

  
"One more question. What does your demon form look like?"

  
A smirk tugged at the corners of Bill's face, revealing a wide grin. He was either amused at Dipper's question or excited to show the boy his regular form.

  
Bill put a hand to Dipper's forehead, brushing the bangs aside slowly as he placed a palm on the top of his head. Dipper became slightly flustered at the gesture, but soon felt his head and illness clearing away quite a bit before his eyes fluttered closed and he saw Bill's true form.

  
A golden, triangular demon with a single eye, staring at him intensely. A small black bowtie and a tall black top hat decorated him, as well as a brick pattern down near his base. Slim black arms and legs poked out from either side.

  
Dipper's eyes flew open in a second and he gasped once he recognized the man.

  
"It was you in my dream last night..."

  
"I'm in all of your dreams, kid. You didn't notice me until yesterday because that's when I made myself known. And boy, was that some dream you had last night! It must have scared you shitless. That was one of the most vivid dreams I've ever seen."

  
"It-it was. Did it mean anything though?"

  
"All dreams have meaning, Pine Tree."

  
"But is it trying to tell-"

  
Bill rushed a finger to Dipper's lips, causing him to go quiet. "Hush," Bill whispered, "Too many questions. The answers are in your dreams. Now answer some of mine in return. How did you feel about earlier when I told you how I obtained this body?"

  
"I don't think it was the best decision, if it was only for the fun of it."

  
"What if I said that the man, for sure, had nothing left? That he was planning on offing himself?"

  
"Then it would be... okay? Did you know he was going to do it?"

  
"I would have, yes. Now, what if I said he had plenty to live for?"

  
Dipper gulped, saying nothing. He looked at the demon in the eyes as if to see if he was lying, but with eyes like those, he couldn't tell anything. It was like he was putting on an act that would never end. He snapped out of it once Bill clapped a hand on his shoulder.

  
"I was joking, Pine Tree! The deed had been done by the time I got the body. He took a few too many pills, you see, so I grabbed him while he slept and simply purged."

  
Dipper felt something click in his mind once he remembered he had Ibuprofen in his pocket, but ever since Bill showed him the vision thing, he felt as if all illness had left his body. Dipper shot an uneasy glance towards him, but laughed nervously as if to shake off the curve ball of a question that was thrown at him.

  
"This was a good chat, Pine Tree, but you have to get going. It seems we can get started fairly soon."

  
"Get started? On what?"

  
"You'll see. For now, you will wake up tomorrow morning after a dreamless night, perhaps with a headache- sorry in advance- but rest assured, your life is about to get much, much more interesting."

  
It was as Bill predicted- Dipper was out like a light in a minute and by the time he woke up, he was on his bed. It was almost seven in the morning and he felt dazed with a slight pain in his head. The room around him was fairly dark, except for the dim, blue glow that surrounded the windows, telling him it was indeed dawn.

  
Though his head felt fuzzy, he still remembered the entirety of the conversation he had with Bill.

  
Needless to say, he was slightly worried by the implications of Bill's parting words.


	5. Dark Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's pretty late because I accidentally burned myself out a little, but now that we're getting to the good part, I'm bringing it back around! Deepest apologies for being so late with it! ^^;

Dipper again went through his daily morning routine- shower, clothes, and breakfast. He bundled up more than usual today because he heard it was supposed to be especially stormy. His mother was, of course, worried about him, but he brushed it off, saying his sickness had gone away and he would be warm enough.

  
Mabel accompanied him to school, asking him if he was okay and everything. She had that strange twin inclination that told her when her brother was acting differently and if anything was bothering him. Dipper told her everything, so it would be weird for him to withhold information on Bill.

  
"Well, lately, I've been going into the woods," Dipper started, quickly wiping his red runny nose, "and I keep finding this... This guy. He claims he's a demon but he doesn't really act like one."

  
Mabel shot him a quizzical glance, "You need to be more careful around people, bro-bro! You know, stranger danger and all that."

  
"Yeah, well, the weird thing is that he's in my dreams. He knows what I'm dreaming- he even said so! And I've seen him there, too, in the nightmare where you..." Dipper trailed off, not wanting to finish the last part. "Anyway, the point is, he wants something from me, but I don't know what."

  
"Hmm..." Mabel hummed, putting a hand to her chin in thought, "I still say you should stay away from him-"

  
"No, no!" Dipper interrupted, objecting the thought, "Sorry, it's just that... Ever since, y'know, the day I drowned, I've felt a longing towards the woods. I can tell it's not natural. It's not a bad sense, either; it's like if someone was waiting for you with open arms, waiting for you to hug them."

  
Mabel knocked on his forehead a couple times, earning a quick "ow" from the boy. "I say, go with your gut, but my twinstincts are feeling weird about this, Dip."

  
"Twinstincts?" Dipper said sarcastically, looking at her with an unimpressed smile.

  
"Oh, shut up, you doof! Making one word out of two saves time."

  
Dipper laughed when she picked up a small pile of snow and failed to shove it down his back. "Maybe your 'twinstincts' are wrong about this, Mabes."

  
Mabel shrugged and rushed on ahead, hurrying through the school doors before stopping and waiting for her brother. Ever since the whole event with the bullies, Dipper reluctantly left his journal at home. Mabel would be there for him as much as possible during the school day, keeping an eye out for the two bullies and sending them intense warning glares when she spotted them.

  
Dipper was still pretty depressed, so most days passed by pretty slowly for him. It was agonizing to go to school because the teachers talked at a pace that was slower than a snail, making it hard for him to concentrate and easy for him to doodle pictures of Bill in his notebook. Fortunately, being in the back of the class gave him the advantage to doodle without the teacher being able to see.

  
His grades were fluctuating and cosntantly dipping below average these days. While it worried his parents, he frequently assured them that he would pick himself up soon and that he just needed a little time after the near-death experience. Though that wasn't completely true; he often thought about Bill and his home.

  
His darkest ideas seemed to come to the front of his mind, pushing back anything that was good. He thought of hundreds of scenarios, all involving death; he didn't want to think these things, but it ate away at his mind, tearing apart his judgement and reason and often forcing him to zone out of reality. It was tough for him to hold conversations and he easily isolated himself, but it was different when he talked with Bill. Something about the demon eased his tired mind.

  
He had a dark aura around him that even his sister noticed. It was intimidating. When he walked down the school's hall, people would move away from him, eyeing him suspiciously but looking away when they saw his eyes. Those darkened eyes that gave them a deadly premonition.

  
Bill had changed something about the boy, but it wasn't something Dipper could see.

* * *

 

"Dipper," Bill spoke, snapping his fingers in front of the boy's face.

  
Dipper glanced around hurriedly before looking back at the demon's face. He wore no true expression, save for a slight agitated look that told Dipper that he should've been listening.

  
"Wh-What?"

  
"You're zoning out, kid," Bill replied, "I understand you've got a lot on your mind, but try and listen."

  
Dipper rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, it's just... I'm having weird thoughts."

  
"I know."

  
Dipper faced Bill once more, eyes darting around as he examined the man's face. Bill looked almost... proud. Like a child who had made macaroni art in school and brought it back home to show their mother, waiting anxiously for her to put it on the fridge. Dipper felt chills crawl up his spine.

  
"What do you mean that you know...?"

  
Bill tapped his finger on his counter, turning away slightly so that Dipper could only see his profile. The demon whirled back around, his prideful smirk turning into an excited grin.

  
"Do you fear those thoughts, Dipper?"

  
The mention of the boy's name sent a quick flush to his face. It wasn't often he said his name like that, and it was almost intimidating to hear Bill say it.

  
Dipper looked down, nodding slightly in response. "Kind of. They're just sort of there all of a sudden and it takes me by surprise."

  
"Hmm," the demon hummed, "Understandable. Do you ever agree with them?"

  
"No, no, never! I just..." Dipper glanced away anxiously. Even if he wanted to say he didn't, he knew he did; even if it was only sometimes. He let out a deep sigh and continued, "Yeah. I do, sometimes."

  
"Do you agree right now?"

  
He ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. "I don't know."

  
Bill reached up and curled a bit of Dipper's bangs on his finger, gradually moving them aside to look at his birthmark.

  
"Is that so? You do remember those bullies, don't you?"

  
Bill tapped a finger on his forehead. He felt something click somewhere deep in his dark thoughts.

  
"They."

  
Bill tapped again. Another click ensued.

  
"Hurt."

  
The demon tapped, earning a third click.

  
"You."

  
Once more, Bill tapped on Dipper's forehead. He felt another click and suddenly his judgement became very hazy. Suddenly, a massive migrane overtook Dipper's mind. He threw his hands up, holding each side of his head in both of them. He fell to his knees on the floor, curled up in pain as he banged his forehead again and again on the hard wood floor. A small spat of blood dripped from his birthmark.

  
Once the pain subsided, he turned back to Bill, panting heavily. "What.. What happened?"

  
"Nothing big, kid. And now I have one more question."

  
Bill slid down from the bar stool and crouched down next to Dipper, sliding a hand gently from his lower back to his shoulder.

  
"What do you think of those bullies now?"

  
Dipper hesitated a little before answering. He glanced down at his hands. Had he been in better mental condition at the moment, he wouldn't have believed the words that would come from his mouth in a second. However, he was blinded by sudden insanity.

  
"I want to... I want to do something bad to them."

  
Bill's eyes sparkled instantaneously, a toothy smile emerging from his parted lips. He patted the boy's head gently.

  
"That's exactly what I was hoping to hear."


	6. Like Strawberries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go, nice super long chapter! Sorry for not being as frequent with updates, I'm having terrible school-related troubles lately and I'm spending a lot of time catching up on shit I didn't do that should be done. Little bit stressed. ^ _ ^;

The dashing redheaded demon led Dipper outside the cave and through the forest, flakes of snow sprinkling very lightly upon the two. The ground seemed to be in that preparation stage before winter, where it was cold and hard and all the leaves and grass were flattened. The earth itself seemed somewhat whiter from the gentle fall of the tiny ice crystals from the sky. It was quite picturesque. However, it was night time, and the only light came from the small flicker of an azure flame hovering slightly above Bill's fingertips; the nature around them was barely visible and could not be appreciated at it's full beauty.

  
They dredged on, taking narrow paths this way and that towards the edge of the woods. Dipper's bloodlust clashed terribly with the aesthetic around them, leaving him in a trance that seemed to make him unaware of mostly everything around him but his goal. It was quite strange to think something so dark and sinister could lurk in such a magnificent environment.

  
"Almost there," Bill whispered to Dipper, glancing back at him quickly, "You think you're up for this?"

  
Dipper looked at Bill and smiled maliciously. "Why wouldn't I be?"

  
They had reached the edge of the woods and were in the backyard of a two-story, cream-colored house. Bill hurried over to the wall of the house, ducking between two windows. He quickly signaled over to Dipper to do the same. Once they were both perched below the windows, Bill peered inside, looking through a small gap in the blinds. The house was dark and it seemed that either no one was home or everyone was asleep.

  
Just then they heard the light sound of music coming from a window. It was very quiet, and it sounded like classical music. Bill held a finger to Dipper mouth, instructing him to be silent, though he already was. The wind died down and the sounds of the night were hushed.

  
It was classical music, coming from a second story window just above them. Bill scurried up the wall of the house, using the frame from the lower window to hold himself up. He looked into the room and spotted a boy of about Dipper's age resting on the bed, music playing from a small radio on his nightstand. The demon jumped down from where he was and handed Dipper a pair of gloves.

  
"You're gonna want those for this job. The less fingerprints, the better."

  
Dipper nodded and put on the gloves, stretching them out slightly before letting it go, earning a light smacking noise. Meanwhile, Bill snapped his fingers and the first floor window opened on command. They both made their way inside and looked around.

  
The room seemed like a den area. There was a sleeping computer in the corner and a glass cabinet against the wall, the middle part filled with trophies and such and the sides with tiny glass ornaments, like small angels or other aesthetic creatures. Plates were propped up against the mirror walls of the cabinet, lined with gold and beautiful pictures painted on the middle.

  
Bill and Dipper walked over to inspect the cabinet. The awards were for outstanding excellence in school or sports. All the plaques on the trophies read the same name; "Richard Norris."

  
The demon shot a quizzical glance towards Dipper. "Who the hell is that?"

  
Dipper scoffed. "Mike's older brother. He's smart and talented and everything, and he was always so smug about it. I fucking hate him."

  
"You've met him?"

  
"Not really, only heard rumors. Even Mike thinks he's a dick. Looks like we know who the favorite child is, though."

  
Bill hummed, "Soon to be an only child."

  
Dipper grinned in acknowledgement of the demon's quip.

  
The two quietly sneaked upstairs. The door to Mike's room was barely open, but they could still faintly hear the sound of the music again. As they opened the door and hurried inside, Dipper forced himself to suppress a laugh.

  
"He listens to fucking classical music to fall asleep?" The boy whispered to Bill, who simply shrugged it off with an amused grin.

  
Bill gestured for Dipper to go turn off the music. Once that was done, he whirled around his hands and two small knives appeared as if from nowhere. He handed them to Dipper and then snapped his fingers, two pairs of handcuffs strapping the sleeping boy to the poles of his bed.

  
Dipper straddled himself onto the boy's waist, sitting back on his stomach to pin him to the bed. Unfortunately, this woke him up, but he didn't say anything once he realized a knife was at his throat. Dipper pulled a finger up to his mouth, commanding Mike to be silent.

  
"One scream is all it'll take," he said in a deep, less recognizable voice, pressing the blade closer and letting a small trickle of blood drip from the cut.

  
Mike breathed heavily, starting to sweat from the sudden stress and peril he was in. Though he had just woken up, he was gripped with an alarming fear that drove his tiredness away.

  
Dipper threw his hood back so that Mike could see his face in the pale moonlight.

  
"Dipsh-" he started, pausing to not finish the nickname. The last thing he wanted right now was to anger the boy any further.

  
"Oh? What was that you were going to say?" Dipper asked, chuckling. "Were you about to call me _Dipshit_?"

  
Mike, now scared out of his wits, huffed in a breath to scream, only to be muffled by a piece of tape that suddenly appeared over his mouth. Bill walked over to where the two were, grinning down at the sad sight of the frightened boy.

  
"Ooh, now that's pathetic," Bill said, "First you mess around with my Pine Tree over here and now you're practically ready to beg for mercy. Truly, truly pathetic."

  
Tears began to well up in the bully's eyes, he looked at Dipper with a begging glance, but was greeted with a terrifying sight. Dipper was just looking down at him with the most intense, unforgiving glare; it was an unforgettable, cold look that shot fear through Mike's heart like a fast-acting poison.

  
"Hmm... Now you're the one crying. After everything you've done to me," Dipper shoved the knife into the boy's shoulder, pulling it towards him until he heard a satisfying pop. Mike flailed around on the bed as much as he could, his muffled screams sending a wave of chills down Dipper's spine. Dipper tugged at the limb until the muscles gave way and tore away from the boy's body. Blood sputtered out from the gory hole, flowing down the side of the bed and staining the carpet and the bed.

  
A splash of the liquid had caught Dipper's face, but he didn't mind it much. He was having fun.

  
"Do you know," Dipper said, "how many times exactly you've bullied me? Or that I'd come home either crying, hiding a black eye from my parents, or both? And my journal. You and Donnie both threw that into the lake, knowing that it meant a lot to me."

  
Dipper ripped the knife into the boy's chest, the boy's remaining hand clenched so tightly that it dug into his skin.

  
"I nearly died."

  
He reached into the boy's chest, worming his way through various bones and organs and muscles.

  
"You hurt me. A lot."

  
His hand happened upon an organ about the size of a grapefruit. He could feel it pumping faintly as he grabbed hold of it, ripping his hand out from the cavity in Mike's chest. In his palm was the bully's still-beating heart. He glanced over to Mike's face, which was still, telling him that he had gone into shock. A moment later, the heart ceased to function and Dipper could safely say the boy was dead.

  
Dipper looked over to Bill, who was watching proudly the entire time. The boy glanced quickly at the face of the dead bully.

  
"Go to hell, fucker," he spat out.

  
Neither Bill nor Dipper bothered to clean up the mess. They had done a good job of covering up any tracks or clues, and so they made their way back out of the house through the second story window. They hurried back into the woods, Bill lighting a small flame to see where they were going.

  
As they walked, Bill kept commending Dipper on how well he did. Dipper was still unsure of it all. The little clicks he had felt in his mind before probably had something to do with it. He was torn between being proud of himself for having done what he did and being disturbed at what he was becoming. Bill assured him that it was just a part of nature. "An eye for an eye," he said.

  
"I guess that's true..." Dipper said, sighing.

 

* * *

 

They had reached the cabin and Bill cordially invited Dipper to go in first. He flipped on the switch and the luminescent water ran through the pipes of the house, lighting it up in a beautiful and serene glow.

  
"Pine Tree, let's get you cleaned up," Bill spoke.

  
Dipper only now noticed his blood-stained clothes. He'd been so wrapped up in questioning his morals that he didn't realize what a mess he was.

  
"Right, let's... do that."

  
Bill led him up the steps and past the kitchen to his bedroom down the hall. He told him to wait in the bathroom shower until he could find a comfortable pair of clothes.

  
"You can shower while you're waiting," Bill called from his room, "Just leave your clothes on the shower floor so they can get washed, too."

  
Dipper began to undress, throwing off his jacket and shirt first and then his pants, socks, and underwear. He turned on the faucet, a rush of warm water greeting the top of his head and his back. He grabbed a bar of soap and began to rub himself down, scrubbing the blood from his skin.

  
Once he was clean, he turned off the water and reached for the blue towel that waited for him just outside the glass door. He rubbed it around on his head, leaving his hair messy and fluffy. He patted it down and wrapped the towel around his waist. A flurry of clothes were thrown at his feet and he picked up a pair of boxers, putting them on under the towel. He let the towel fall to the ground.

  
Bill stood leaning against the doorway, watching as Dipper fumbled around in his underwear for other clothes. He looked over the boy, humming happily. This caused Dipper to stand up straight and look over towards Bill, his face flushing red. He laughed nervously as he pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans and a short-sleeved black button-up shirt.

  
They walked out towards the living room. Dipper shoved his hands in his pockets, partially from being nervous and partially to hide the scars that were still sort of visible on his arm. He didn't like wearing short-sleeved shirts for a reason, after all.

  
Bill walked to a corner where there was an old-timey record player. He set it up and the music started to play.

  
"You know, I've kinda grown a liking to eras like this," Bill said.

  
"I can tell. Your sense of style is really fucking old."

  
Bill held up a finger, "But tasteful!"

  
Dipper shrugged and smiled sarcastically. "Yeah, but it only looks good on you."

  
Bill looked over, pretending to be surprised, but couldn't help the smug grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. Dipper became even more flustered once he realized what he had said.

  
"I-I mean- well, in comparison to... Y'know. Just, like..."

  
Bill walked over and covered his mouth once again with a finger. "I think I know what you meant, Pine Tree." His finger slipped away from the boy's mouth and he leaned over, grabbing Dipper by the collar and gently allowing their lips to touch. Dipper's hand reached up to hold on tightly to Bill's suspenders as they shared a long, soft kiss.

  
He felt Bill's body sway slightly to the song, moving side to side and inviting Dipper to do the same. Their foreheads remained undivided as they closed their eyes and followed the music, turning slightly every once in a while. Bill's right hand rested on Dipper's shoulder while his other held Dipper's hand. Dipper's arm circled around the demon's waist, gripping on softly to the back of his suspenders. Their chests were glued together.

  
Dipper opened his eyes in realization that he didn't know how to dance, but he really didn't want to ruin the moment. He prayed to all that was holy that Bill would just continue swaying until the song ended.

  
However, he was caught off-guard by another kiss. It felt different from the last. It felt almost proper, if Dipper could describe it. He pulled away and started to whisper quietly.

  
"Mmm... Just how I imagined it."

  
"Hm?"

  
Dipper smiled nervously. "I just always imagined you to taste like... strawberries."

  
"So you've imagined those kinds of scenarios, huh?" Bill asked, giggling quietly.

  
The boy smacked the demon on the side of the ribs lightly. "Shut the fuck up," he said in a jestful tone.

  
The song ended and the two stood there, holding each other in silence for a minute or two, simply enjoying each other's warmth and presence. Bill glanced up at his wall clock. It was nearly five AM, and likely if Dipper stayed any longer his parents or Mabel might find out. He tapped the boy on the shoulder twice, nodding his head up towards the time.

  
"Shit, that's pretty late," Dipper cursed. He had no idea if his parents were up or not, but he definitely didn't want to risk it. Bill walked him over to the door and they began to say their goodbyes.

  
"Bill, I... Thanks for tonight."

  
"Yeah. You're gonna do some great things, kid. I also had a good time."

  
Dipper smiled at the demon and then took off running towards the cave's tunnel.

  
"You sure you don't want me to send you back myself?" Bill called from afar.

  
Dipper turned and waved. "Nah, don't worry about it! I know my way back and I left my window unlocked just in case!"

  
Bill watched as he scrambled into the hole that was the cavern's entrance. He leaned against the threshold and crossed his legs.

  
" _We're_ gonna so some great things."


	7. Eye for an Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is pretty late!! I'm having a lot of irl troubles involving school lately and haven't been able to spend as much time on my laptop as I'd like to. I think I might have to just do once a week updates for now, maybe on Fridays or over the weekend. I'd also like to note that I was going to try and write some smut, but I couldn't. It makes me too uncomfortable to write. Sorry!! ^^;

Dipper was able to sneak quite easily into his house. He'd done it so often in the past; sneaking out at sixteen to hang out with buddies, and again at age seventeen to meet up with a significant other. He and Mabel actually celebrated their eighteenth birthday by sneaking out and having a party at a friend's house; admittedly, they had gotten pretty wasted that night, but thankfully with no regrets.

  
Dipper slid his scarf behind the drainpipe, adjusting himself on the wall of the house so that he could use the fabric to scurry up to flat ground. Luckily, the roof projected out so that there was a platform right where his bedroom window was, so he had no trouble once he was up.

  
He opened the window and climbed into his room, throwing off his winter clothes and closing the window again to keep the cold air from rushing in. His eyes barely stayed open as he threw himself on the bed, exhausted completely. He didn't even have the energy to spare moving his arms or legs, otherwise he would've slept on his side rather than his stomach. Slowly he drifted off, his thoughts lingering as he embraced the comfort of his soft mattress-

  
Then his alarm rang.

  
"Aw, for fuck's sake," he grumbled loudly, whamming the snooze button.

 

* * *

 

"Bro-bro, don't go falling asleep on me now!" Dipper heard Mabel say, followed by a painful flick to the forehead.

  
Dipper's tired eyes shot open at the gesture. He pulled his face away from the locker he was leaning against, wiping a bit of drool from his chin as he attempted to focus his sight on his twin sister.

  
"Did you hear what they said, Dip? The principal's calling everyone to the cafeteria to announce something."

  
"Mm," Dipper replied sleepily.

  
"Maybe it'll be something cool! Like, what if the principal's retiring and we're getting a new one?" She lowered her voice to a whisper, "The one we have now is a bit of a dick."

  
"I wouldn't get your hopes up. That old man has a heart of steel; he'll probably retire on his deathbed," Dipper said, chuckling lightly.

  
"Don't be so pessimistic; I'm sure he'll retire soon. Let's go, bro!"

  
Mabel skipped ahead, pausing every few seconds to wait for Dipper to follow suit. He drudged along slowly, his feet barely leaving the ground. The boy had a pretty good idea of what the big announcement was, anyway. No need to rush.

  
The cafeteria was filled with students, all talking amongst themselves. Some of them looked depressed, as if they already knew what was coming. Out of the corner of his eye, Dipper could see Donnie Hardwick crying, surrounded by a few other concerned boys who had their hands on his shoulders and back.

  
Mabel took a seat at a table, motioning Dipper over next to her. She kicked her legs excitedly, unprepared to have her day ruined. That was probably the only thing Dipper would feel bad about.

  
"Attention, students," a deep, sullen voice rang out over the speakers, "May I have your attention please!"

  
The entire room lulled to a hush as the commanding voice of the principal began to speak.

  
"We have gathered you here today for a special announcement. It is with the heaviest of hearts that I must announce the passing of your fellow schoolmate and friend, Michael Norris. His body was found in his bedroom this morning, and it was assumed to be a case of homicide."

  
The room was filled with gasps, whispers, and even a few sobs. Dipper turned to his sister, letting out a sarcastic gasp before rolling his eyes and returning to his bored, unimpressed expression. Mabel, who was visibly shocked and disturbed at the news, smacked his arm roughly. He turned to her again and they glared at each other for a moment or two before the principal continued.

  
"I'm quite aware that this might be hard for you to take in. Today's classes will be canceled. Now please join us in a moment of silence for our beloved friend..."

  
Dipper scoffed at the word as his face twisted into a disgusted look. The cafeteria quieted down as kids bowed their heads in respect. Some of them didn't though, and appeared to have the same reaction as Dipper. Apparently Mike had bullied a lot of the kids.

  
"I'm not staying for this bullshit," Dipper whispered inaudibly. He got up and hurried out of the room, Mabel following close behind. Apparently Donnie and a few of Mike's gang had already left, probably bringing Donnie to the bathroom to let him calm down while the cafeteria shared the moment of silence. He hurried down the empty hallway.

  
Dipper felt a hand grab his shoulder harshly and spin him around. In a second, his cheek was met with a hard slap and he stumbled back a little. Mabel was staring at him lividly.

  
"What the fuck, Mabel?"

  
"No, what the fuck was _that_ , Dipper?!" Mabel shouted loudly, "What the hell is your damage? I know you hated him a lot and that he bullied you- and yeah, he did a lot of things wrong; but you don't fucking walk out on something like that! He's _dead_ , Dipper!"

  
"I know, I heard the principal the first time, okay?! Mike almost cost me my fucking life. I literally almost died, Mabel. Hell, maybe I _did_ die, but what do you care? You're not allowed to make decisions on how I feel! You're not my conscience, and you're sure as shit not me. Get off my back!"

  
Mabel was taken aback by his words, but quickly regained herself.

  
"You seriously think I didn't hate him too?" she spoke, her eyes beginning to water as her face twisted with different emotions, "You don't think I cared seeing my twin brother, who I shared my whole life with, lying on a bed, not sure if he'd ever wake up?"

  
Dipper took a step back, realizing the weight of her words. He began to tear up as well.

  
She began again, "I did care, and I do. I still do. But I need you to know that people like that can be forgiven. You didn't know him personally; maybe he could have been fixed. You could've forgiven him."

  
Dipper stared blankly at his sister for a few moments, glancing back and forth between both of her eyes as if to analyze her thoughts. He felt something in his mind click, as if to bring him back to that mentality he had when he was with Bill. This prompted him to find words to say.

  
"An eye for an eye, Mabel," Dipper spoke at last, "I would never have forgiven him."

  
The boy took off running down the hall. Mabel took a few steps to follow him, but didn't chase after him. She stopped and replayed his words in her head.

  
An eye for an eye.

 

* * *

 

Dipper's throat was dry and cold by the time he made it to the woods. He didn't quite feel like returning home. He wanted to be with Bill again, wanted the demon to hold him closely, his thumb stroking the tip of Dipper's ear as he nuzzled his head into Bill's hand. Just imagining it made him feel warm.

  
He hurried through the forest, dredging his feet in the snow as he ran as fast as he could to get to Bill's cabin. Soon enough, he had entered the narrow cave and slid down the rocks that emptied out into the beautiful cavern. He made a beeline for the cabin's door, knocking on it as he tried to catch his breath. Bill opened the door and allowed the boy to come in and strip down to his indoor clothes, namely a navy blue sweater with a lighter blue pine tree shape in the middle that Mabel had made for him and a pair of thick winter jeans. He kicked off his boots and adjusted his socks, which were uncomfortably pulled down during the course of his trek here.

  
Bill sat up on the bar stool, leaning an elbow on the counter and taking a sip from his steaming cup of apple cinnamon tea. Dipper hopped up the short stairs and entered the kitchen, searching around the cupboards for a packet of hot chocolate.

  
"You're here pretty early, Pine Tree," Bill said.

  
Dipper looked in the box containing the packets of cocoa powder, triumphantly finding that there was one left. He threw a pot on the stove and measured out a cup of milk in the mug, setting the stove to a high temperature and pouring the milk into the pot.

  
"Yeah. They let us out early because some kid died," Dipper said, ending the sentence with an obvious tone of sarcasm, "They say he was _murdered!_ "

  
"Oh, no! How awful," Bill replied facetiously as Dipper chuckled to himself.

  
Dipper glanced toward the pot, keeping an eye on the milk. "Yeah. I acted really insensitive about it apparently, so my sister smacked me," he said, pointing to his right cheek to show the red mark, "To be honest, it did hurt to see her like that. She... God, I just keep getting flashbacks to that dream. Every time I see her broken-looking expression..."  
Bill took a sip of his tea again as he listened to Dipper's words.

  
"I did feel something change, though," Dipper paused, pouring the hot milk into a mug and turning off the stove, "Like, something in my mind clicked- like what happened yesterday."

  
"Did your speech pattern change?"

  
Dipper poured the powder into his drink and stirred. "Yeah! I was repeating something you said, I think. In context of the conversation, it did make sense, though I'm sure Mabel's sort of suspicious of me right now."

  
Bill hummed happily as he took another sip.

  
"She won't hate me, right?"

  
"No, she doesn't hate you, it seems. If that were the case, she probably would've slapped you again."

  
"No, but will she hate me once she finds out?"

  
"Who says she's gonna find out?"

  
Dipper looked down at his drink, blowing a bit of air at it to cool it down.

  
"If she does."

  
"Then she might. It depends on you, on how healthy your sibling relationship with her is."

  
"We haven't had any big problems so far... Though there was that one time she walked in on me kissing one of the boys she was dating. Funny enough, that was the day I came out to her as pansexual."

  
"Was there a rift between you two?"

  
"No, no. Mabel's forgiving. She might have been dating him, but I guess they weren't really a couple yet- does that count as cheating?"

  
"Probably."

  
"Oh. Well then, I guess I deserved the punch she gave me afterwards."

  
Dipper glanced down into his mug and swirled it in a circle, trying to knock the built-up chocolate around from the bottom of the cup.

  
"Other than that, we haven't really had any huge problems. Usually siblings fight a lot, but not us. From what my great uncle said, it's unnatural for siblings like us to get along so well."

  
"I wouldn't worry about it then, kid."

  
Dipper breathed a sigh of relief and placed his empty cup down on the counter. Bill eyed him, then motioned him over, tapping the chair next to him. "C'mere, Pine Tree."

  
Dipper hopped over the counter and onto the stool, which Bill pulled closer so that he could observe the boy's facial features. He put a hand to Dipper's chin, tugging him closer and looking at the bags under his eyes.

  
"You're looking tired."

  
"I blame you. I didn't get any sleep at all! I closed my eyes and the next second the stupid alarm was fucking blaring in my ears."

  
"You could sleep here for a while, if you want."

  
"What, like, on your couch?"

  
The demon shook his head. "Nope, you can sleep in my bed. I could stay with you if it'll help you sleep better, too."

  
Dipper's ears and face flushed as he felt the heat rise to his head. "S-sure," he replied in a high-pitched tone with a random voice crack. It felt like the beginning stages of his pubescent days were coming back to haunt him.

  
Bill jumped from the stool and grabbed Dipper's hands, leading him down the hall to a moderately-sized bedroom with a large mattress on the ground. Dipper inspected the room quickly; it was messy, but somehow seemed in order. There were books scattered around, some turned upside-down, some in towers. A golden beanbag in the corner had an imprint in it. The black carpet was oddly comforting, as was the wall and ceiling, both painted a dark grey. It reminded him of a stormy day. He turned to face Bill, who was starting to get undressed. He threw off his shirt and paused, looking at Dipper's stunned and flustered face.

  
"Don't tell me you don't sleep in the nude," the demon said.

  
"N-not with my parents and sister in the house, no."

  
Bill grinned mischeivously. "Well, it's just us, so no need to be shy!"

  
"Right, right..."

  
"I won't try anything if you're not ready, I promise," the demon spoke, "I may be a demon, but I'm not an asshole."

  
"Fair enough- Sorry, it's not you, it's just... I need to spend a bit more time with you, I guess."

  
Bill shook his head in dismissal of his apology. "No need to say sorry. That's just how the human mind works; trust me, I know how the mind is."

  
Dipper had already gotten comfortable under the blankets. He watched as Bill threw off his white and yellow stripped boxers. He quickly caught himself staring at the other's junk and promptly turned his head away, flushing deeply. He closed his eyes and waited until the weight of the bed shifted.

  
Upon opening his eyes, he noticed the proximity of Bill's face to his. Bill was studying his features closely, taking in the beauty of the moment. Dipper couldn't help it and he reached up to place a hand on the demon's shoulder, tracing it down his arm and taking hold of his hands. His eyes fluttered closed and he leaned in to close the distance, lips brushing each other softly before it turned into a passionate and electrifying kiss. Bill placed a hand on Dipper's waist, not daring to go any further. Dipper slid an arm around the demon's side, tugging him closer until their bare chests touched, their breathing sped up.

  
Dipper pulled away breathlessly from the kiss, staring up at the demon's twinkling, azure eyes. He could've sworn he saw the galaxy in them for just a moment; the shining brilliance of a million stars and nebulae that had colors more beautiful than a rainbow.

  
He chuckled to himself. "Sorry, I'll go to sleep now."

  
Bill simply hummed happily, content with what they had.

  
Dipper reached down for Bill's hands again holding them up to chest level as he nuzzled his head under Bill's chin. Slowly, he drifted back off into a sleep, his mind pushing away his troubles and allowing him the blissful ignorance of the blank thoughts that usually came just before sleep.

  
The last conscious thought he had was "An eye for an eye."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I'd like to think this is what Dip and Mabel's house looks like. http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm135/parkejo_album/Augusta_Yellow.jpg
> 
> Lastly, This fic just got 1000 hits!! Thanks guys! You're rad. Maybe it'll get lucky at get 2000 like Seeking Vengeance. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	8. One Icy Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this is kind of late! I'm going to count it as this week's chapter because I'll be busy over the weekend. Also, school's been biting my ass. It's summer for mostly everyone, but I've still got school stuff, unfortunately. Hope you like it! Prepare for heartbreak!

Dipper had awoken once more in his bed. It didn't surprise him much anymore, but a slight pain did resonate throughout his head. He looked towards his clock, which read half past eight in the morning, and remembered his fight with Mabel. She was typically a morning person, so even on a Saturday morning like this, she was most likely awake and already sitting in her room watching a show or updating her blog.

  
Dipper threw off his covers before realizing his lack of clothes; fortunately, no one was around and his door was closed. He put on an over-sized t-shirt and a pair of boxers, making his way out of his room and down the hall to his sister's. He knocked gently on the door before hearing Mabel give permission. Opening it, he peeked in at his sister's overly purple-colored room and spotted her comfortably seated in a hammock just above her actual bed. Her logic was that the mattress was "too springy" and the hammock was better to just hang out in.

  
She glanced at him very quickly and then returned to her laptop, chewing on a few strands of her auburn hair and adjusting her red-rimmed reading glasses. She said nothing, but skimmed over her computer screen as if she were reading something interesting.

  
Dipper cleared his throat after a minute or two of silence. She shot another look at him, her expression growing a little more annoyed. Dipper pushed the door out of the way and simply stood there.

  
"Mabel?"

  
She threw her hands up in the air and scoffed as she rolled her eyes, shutting her laptop down to look at her twin.

  
"What, Dipper? What is it?"

  
Dipper was a little startled by the harsh tone of her voice.

  
"I just- Look, I'm sorry about anything I said yesterday. I know I can be insensitive sometimes, but I... I don't know. I don't know what you want me to say, Mabel."

  
Mabel let her laptop gently fall to her bed below. Throwing off her glasses, she jumped from the hammock and landed gracefully on the snow-white carpet.

  
"Is it that guy?"

  
Dipper looked up, bewildered, and met her eyes. "Huh?" he quietly hummed out.

  
"The demon you told me about. He's messing with you."

  
"No- No, no, it's nothing like that. Don't bring him into this."

  
Mabel's nose scrunched up in disgust. "Don't lie to me, Dipper. That guy's fucking with your brain and you know it. Did he make you do something?"

  
"Holy shit, Mabel- Just stop, okay?"

  
"Did he make you do something? Like, I dunno... Kill someone? Dipper, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

  
"MABEL."

  
"Did he do that, Dipper? Is he brainwashing you?"

  
Before Dipper could object to his hand doing it, he had slapped his sister across the face. Realizing quite slowly what he had done, he withdrew, taking a few steps back and tripping backwards over a few things on the floor.

  
"I-I..."

  
Mabel simply stood there, looking at her brother incredulously as he crawled back towards the wall. In a panicked hurry Dipper rushed to his feet and fled from the room, back into his own. Slamming the door shut, he locked it. With his back against the door, he slid down into a sitting position.

  
He felt so bad about himself now. Mabel didn't deserve that slap, and she certainly didn't deserve the shit that Dipper had dropped on her lately. The boy had no one to blame but himself. He felt his left arm throbbing as his scars ached. He didn't know why it happened, but whenever his emotions ran high, his arm had a tendency to do that. He subconsciously began to pick at the scabs, the skin peeling off rather easily as blood began to trickle down his forearm.

  
A soft knock at his door made him pause.

  
"Dipper?" Mabel's voice spoke in almost a whisper, "... I'm sorry."

  
He tried to find words to say back, but he couldn't. After a moment or two, he heard footsteps walk away from the door slowly. Another minute later, the front door had opened and he could hear the murmur of his sister's and his mother's voices. He scrambled up from his spot and rushed towards the window, watching as his sister got into the car the family car- or rather, the second family car- and drove away.

  
Then it clicked in his mind. His sister leaving in a car alone... and today, of all days, when the roads were slippery.

  
It couldn't be.

  
Dipper jumped from his sitting position on the bed and glanced around anxiously, scanning the room quickly for his phone.

  
"Shit, shit, shit..." he cursed, " Where is it??"

  
He dug around under piles of dirty clothes and other miscellaneous items, searching for his phone. At last he had found it- for some reason it had been hiding under his bed. He flew down his contacts list and found Mabel's name, hurriedly calling her.

  
"Pick up, Mabel, pick up the phone..." he whispered as it rang a few times.

  
"Hello, friend! Mabel Pines isn't here right now, but call me bac-"

  
Dipper hung up the phone and quickly tried to call again, but ended up with the same results.

  
"Dammit, Mabes! Fine, fine, calling her isn't an option, I guess... What do I do??"

  
He thought of places Mabel would go to when she was angry with him. Sometimes she would go to a friend's house, or hang out around their old elementary school. When she was upset and apologetic, she would usually go to go get some donuts to share with her brother as an "I owe you one" sort of thing.

  
Throwing on two light jackets and a pair of pants, he climbed out through his window and made his way as fast as possible down the sidewalk towards the busier part of town. He looked ahead and saw two cars parked on the side of the road, the drivers out and investigating something. He heard panicked, loud voices and felt his heart drop.

  
He ran across the road towards the scene. He paused in fear when he recognized his family car, the front of the car torn to shreds, crushing the unfortunate driver.

  
"No, no, no..." Dipper whispered, falling backwards onto the cold sidewalk. One man who was looking at the wreckage and on the phone with, presumably, 911 motioned towards the other, pointing at Dipper. The man hurried up from the ditch to where Dipper was sitting.

  
"Son, are you okay? Do you know this car?"

  
Dipper turned to glance at the man quickly, tears brimming in his eyes. He held a hand out towards the car, clenching his fist so tightly that his fingertips turned white and his nails dug into his skin.

  
"That... That's my twin sister."

 

* * *

 

Dipper's parents sat on either side of him, patting his back in reassurance. With a blanket draped over the trembling teen's shoulders, he just sat there, staring at the floor with a wide-eyed, broken expression, tears causing his vision to become blurry as they dripped down to the ground.

  
He could only think one thing as they sat there in the hospital's waiting room.

  
"It was all my fault. I drove her to go out on an icy day."

  
He wasn't able to say anything, though. Speaking was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment, and only his own mixed-up thoughts were with him.

  
His dad was called over by the nurse, but their voices were drowned out. It didn't matter. Dipper knew what she was telling him.

  
His father turned towards the wall slowly as Dipper just stared at them with blank expression. The man put an arm to the wall and turned his face away from his wife and son. Mrs. Pines rushed over to comfort him, and Dipper didn't move or blink. If time was still moving, it didn't feel like it.

  
The boy wouldn't be able to sleep for nights after that.

  
How could he live with himself?


	9. Bound to Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is really late! Right. Yes. Because life has not been kind to me. I've had less time to be on my laptop, I've been trying to catch up on schoolwork for months, my great uncle passed away a few weeks ago, depression stuff, didn't have the motivation or inspiration- you get the point. Sorry for taking so long guys!! This chapter is sorta shorter than usually but y'know, I had to make it or I'd feel sort of unaccomplished. Enjoy!! ^^;

For weeks, Dipper would sit up in his dark room, feeling nothing but guilt and regret. He barely spoke, and his neglect of food gave him a very malnourished appearance. He had to live with the thought that he led his only sibling to her death. After eighteen years of being a twin, he was now an only child.

  
His parents left him alone for the most part. They knew their son well enough to know that when he was mourning, he would prefer to keep to himself. Still, they worried over him and his health, and kept a watchful eye on the boy.

  
On many days, he would look out of the cold, frosted window towards the woods. He would think about going over to see Bill, but his soul and body were too weak and worn to endure the harsh winter. However, he realized sulking in his room wouldn't bring his sister back.

  
Perhaps Bill could help.

  
He slipped out into the freezing night, out of the house and into the woods. He stumbled quite a lot, seeing as he was in a considerably weakened state, but trudged through the snow regardless. His suddenly reclusive nature shed away flake by flake, and every heavy step he took only made him long for the comfort of the demon more. Maybe he could stay with Bill for a while... That would most likely label him as missing, but he couldn't care less. His family wasn't a family unless his sister was there.

  
The barking winds pushed against him, flushing his face to a deep red as his teeth chattered loudly. He hurried as fast as he could to the small cave entrance, the gales of winter dying down quickly as he rushed down the rocky cavern that led to the beautiful underground cottage.

  
He knocked on the door, letting the heavy clothing keep him warm as he waited. Bill answered promptly, a flash of concern grazing his face.

  
"Yikes, you don't look great, kid."

  
Dipper wiped hand across his watering eyes and dripping nose. "I don't really feel great."

  
Bill led him into the house and onto the couch, stripping his coat off of him and replacing it with a cozy, fuzzy quilt. He snapped his fingers, and almost immediately a blue fire on the other side of the room lit up in the fireplace, encompassing Dipper in a comfortable warmth. Bill walked toward the kitchen and began to make a hot beverage for the boy as he sat on the couch, feeling his heart go from a quick pounding to a light, slow pace, making him feel tired.

  
The demon came back with the drink and handed it to Dipper, waiting until he felt okay to talk.

  
"So, what's happening?"

  
Dipper half-shrugged, looking down into his mug with saddened eyes. "Is it... Is it okay for me to stay with you?"

  
Bill smirked cheerfully at him. "Yeah, definitely. How long are you planning to stay, Pine Tree?"

  
"Well..." Dipper sighed, "I'm not really sure. Just for a while, I guess."

  
The demon looked at him, studying his eyes for a little bit and watching his shaking hands.

  
"I'm... sorry about what happened to her."

  
Dipper didn't respond.

  
"There's nothing I can do."

  
The boy knew that was coming. He expected it, for sure, but just hearing Bill say that nearly broke him right then and there. For a few minutes, he didn't move, didn't speak, but simply sat there and allowed tears to flow down his face softly.

  
"I'm sorry, Dipper. Once someone's gone, it's beyond my power. I couldn't do anything about it at the moment, because..." he paused, musing for a moment, wondering if he should continue.

  
"I'm already bound to your soul, kid."

  
Dipper looked up at him quizzically.

  
"I'm bound. Back when I saved you, it was like taking a vow to protect someone. When you take that vow, you essentially give up a part of yourself to protect another being. You only get that part back when the being you bind yourself to di- er, well... When they pass on."

  
Dipper's eye glanced back and forth between Bill's, as if he was looking for answers.

  
"W-why me?"

  
"You were... I've seen your dreams. I'm in all dreams, all the time. Your dreams were something else. So vivid, so colorful... I guess you can compare it to having a favorite artist of sorts. You are so interesting. Your dreams led me to you, and I didn't want to see your spark go out so quickly."

  
Dipper's sadness gradually faded into a calm state. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back against the demon's chest.

  
"Call it demon's intuition, but... I guess we can just tell when a being would mean a lot to us."

  
Dipper glanced away, towards the fire, watching the flame pulsate and flicker.

  
Bill continued, "I think you have the potential to make the good of your dreams a reality. I've seen how you are now, but you have a lot of fire in you, and you have the ability to make the best with what you're given."

  
The fire died down a little.

  
"I'll only have that potential as long as you're with me. I... don't really have anything or anyone else, do I?"

  
The demon didn't respond immediately, and the smile he was sharing with the boy quickly turned to a frown.

  
"As long as I'm with you, huh?"

  
"Yeah. You're the spark of my fire."

  
Bill huffed a deep breath, blowing a bit of his bangs up a little. "I'm pretty sure you can spark your own fire, kid. I think you can accomplish a lot on your own, and-"

  
He glanced down towards the human, whose breathing was soft and shallow. He had fallen asleep rather fast, but it was probably for the best, seeing as this would probably be the most sleep he would get in weeks.

  
"Pine Tree..."

  
Bill closed his eyes, bringing his hands up only to slide them down his face again.

  
"Time really will be our enemy. I'm sorry."


End file.
